"Afternoon Tea", Oil on Canvas, 20 x 30

I am demonstrating for the "Tour of the Arts" in North East Georgia this weekend (June 10,11,12). I chose this painting since it's something I have had sketched in my sketchbook as an idea for a while. I hired a young lady to model for me at a local garden. I set up a tea set and gave her props. I photographed extensively in different poses; with and without the hat, with and without the book, etc. This was my favorite pose. I sketched the image in with charcoal as usual but since I was demonstrating the next day I used acrylic paint to block in the details, darks and lights. At the point I remembered to photograph my progress, I was about 5 hours into the painting. A lot has been accomplished so far. Everything is loosely blocked in and some detail has been nearly completed. I am working in Oils. The canvas is 20 x 30".

Step 2: I have added a grassy area to the right of the young lady. In the photos, that area is cars and the building in the background is the fire station. I turned the building into a small shed.

Step 3: I have seriously strengthened the greenery on the lower left. I worked extensively on the center chair and shadowing beneath it. The dress and skin have more layers added. The building in the back in more complete and the bench and pots in the background are nearly finished. Looking at this photo, it seems to me that the tree just behind the girl is a bit bright and I will mute that a bit. I think I will change the purple flowers just behind the center chairs to blue and make them more scattered. I have added a few more "Bricks" in the path and will strengthen them more later. I am finished for the day and will paint more tomorrow! It feels like there is a long way to go but I am generally fooled like that at this point LOL. Let's see what tomorrow brings....

I'm not sure you can tell any difference between this step and the last one. I worked mostly in the background; pushing that area back with muted mushy colors. I worked the red tree in the middle ground. I worked on the greenery in the front right a little also.

I have been avoiding working on the girls skin, but I gave in tonight. I mixed several piles of color. One pile was burnt sienna to white, another raw sienna to white, and another raw umber to white. I would add other colors to change those piles. I would add cadmium red medium to warm, alizarin crimson to cool, ultramarine blue or burnt umber or both to darken, and zinc white to lighten.

I worked a good bit on the path. I scumbled more color and texture over the bricks. Then I used raw umber and lots of Meroger medium to make the lines. I highlighted those lines with raw umber and titanium white mixture and thinned that with medium. The path is close to being done I think. Once all this dries I will scumble a little more texture onto the bricks and move to the next step.

I hope you can tell the difference here. I worked on adding sunshine to the path. I finished the tea set and I worked on the girls skin some more. I also added more detail to the red tree behind her. I detailed the pots a little. Heck, I've worked all over the darn thing. I think it's pretty close now. There is just some tweaking that needs to be done.

Finished!! I am pleased with the overall look of this painting. I like the color and composition and I feel the focal point is evident and strong. Thanks for following along as I worked on it!